


Pearl fight club backroom sparring

by Chromite



Series: Pearl Fight Club [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Era Three Pearl fight club, Gem Weapons, Sparring, mention of Fight club ring leaders, secret building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 14:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19401868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromite/pseuds/Chromite
Summary: Four very different Pearls get together to spar in secrecy and privatly.





	Pearl fight club backroom sparring

>Four Pearls came together on a moon far from the usual traffic of gem ships. The group wanted to practice their fighting skills outside of the main ring meetings, and had sought out a private practice room that wasn't already in use. Each practice room was small, intended for groups no larger than ten to train, outfitted with a few weapons and some protective gear for the Pearls to use if they needed to.   
>The four Pearls came across a purple Pearl standing guard at the small building, wearing a simplistic military uniform, short cut hair, and holding on to a purple crossbow. The guard Pearl gave each of the Pearls a good look as they approached, glancing over their forms for anything that stuck out as suspicious. Not seeing anything, the guard Pearl nodded them in.   
>The Pearls passed by the guard single file as they entered the building. The first Pearl was a lovely shade of dark pink, her hair pulled back into a ponytail that drooped down to the small of her back, she wore a sleeveless pink vest upon her torso and pink shorts around her waist, a shining pink stone on her left kneecap.  
>The second Pearl was a murky brown, her hair wild and messy, her clothing tattered over her body in shades of green, grey, and brown, giving her a look of being feral, her gem rested squarely on her right shoulder. From her back grew two large brown moth wings, rings of green and grey sitting near the tips of the wings.   
>The third Pearl was a dark orange hue, her hair short and neat, an orderly orange suit with a white undershirt adorned her form, the only place on her body not covered by the suit was a small window around her naval for her orange gem to show through.   
>The last Pearl was a light blue, her hair spiked up in short points along her head, her body clad in a long light blue kimono, the edges of the sleeves and the bottom around her feet ending in jagged edges, her gem resting safely upon her forehead.  
>The four Pearls fully entered the building, eyeing the weapons and protective gear resting along the walls. The orange Pearl reached for her naval gem and pulled out a long orange sword. "We should start by showing off our gem weapons, so we can pair off to practice better. Swords are a very elegant weapon to fight with, don't you all think?"  
>The pink Pearl smiled as she reached down to her left kneecap and pulled out a long pink staff. "I prefer my staff personally, Iron does a great job instructing us in how to use them, she lets us get out bodies adjusted to the movements before we start sparring on our own. I'm not quite there yet, but I hope I can start sparring soon.  
>The brown Pearl grinned and reached at her right shoulder with her right hand, pulling a brown spear out in a fluid motion, her wings flapping a bit behind her as her hair shook. "Me and you pinkie, we're going to have fun. Our weapons are close enough for a good match, best prepare yourself for the strength of a once corrupted gem!"   
>The pink Pearl looked the brown Pearl over and nodded. "Very well, we'll practice together." she looked between the orange and the blue Pearls. "I hope you two don't mind being paired with each other." The pink Pearl began walking to one side of the room, the brown Pearl following behind her eagerly.   
>The blue Pearl whispered out as she reached up to her forehead. "It's just as well, my weapon is close range, like a sword. We're a good match, don't you think?" as she finished her statement, a small hand axe pulled free from her gem, held firmly in her left hand.   
>The orange Pearl smiled. "Magnificent, a bit of a barbaric weapon, but wielded by one who wears such graceful attire! This will be a good match." The orange Pearl began moving to the opposite end of the room from the one the pink Pearl had chosen, to give them as much room as possible for their sparring matches.   
>The pink Pearl looked to the orange Pearl wearily. "I know we both need practice, but let's try to avoid each other's gems, okay? No need for accidents here."  
>The brown Pearl nodded. "Fair enough, but I ain't guaranteeing you won't be scuffed and bruised by the end of this. The ring of Corrupted Gems is brutal. This will give you an edge over the softer gems of your Ring of Staves."  
>The pink Pearl's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare speak about Ringmaster Iron that way."  
>The brown Pearl shrugged. "Just saying, Zelenka would wipe the floor with her. She constantly takes gems down three times her size, and brutally."  
>"Strength isn't everything." the pink Pearl gritted her teeth in annoyance as she clutched her staff tightly.   
>"Prove it." the brown Pearl twirled her spear around before gripping it firmly in her hands.   
>On the other end of the room, a very different conversation was taking place. The orange Pearl flourished her sword as she faced her opponent. "I have to say, I have high hopes in your abilities, as someone who shares my tastes in elegance. A shame about that weapon of yours, would you like to grab a sword? I can show you some things and we'll have a proper duel!"  
>The blue Pearl let out a chuckle. "The point is to get better with our own weapons. Don't underestimate me, Ringmaster Lime herself says I've got great potential."  
>The orange Pearl nodded her head. "It must be nice, getting praise from the one teaching you. What I wouldn't give to have Ringmaster Zeva Emerald praise my skills!"  
>"Zeva Emerald? Why'd she name herself partially after those snobby elitist gems?"  
>"Ah, that's the great mystery, she's never talked about it when someone asks her. She always says the same thing. "I'll share my story with the person who dethrones me". Nobody's come close to beating her, her skills are truly magnificent."  
>The blue Pearl smiled for a bit before her face turned serious. "Okay, enough small talk. We came here for a reason. Shall we get to it?"  
>"Very well. En Guard!" the orange Pearl lunged towards the blue Pearl, her sword tip pointed strait and her opponent's torso. The blue Pearl did a sidestep, using her axe to knock the sword away as her opponent's weapon went past her, sending the orange Pearl reeling, leaving her open. The blue Pearl brought her axe around into a side strike.   
>The orange Pearl's eyes widened as she sprang back to try and dodge the blow, not quite fast enough to avoid it entirely, the axe scrapping across her torso six inches above her gem, ripping into her suit, creating a small gash in the orange Pearl's form. Her eyes narrowed and a scowl crossed her face. "Oh, it's going to be like that?"  
>The orange Pearl regained her footing and dropped into a defensive stance, her blade brought around in front of her, her eyes watching the blue Pearl's movements.  
>The blue Pearl hummed a little as she took a few slow steps forward, her axe moving from side to side in small motions in front of her chest, the sleeves on her kimono flowing as her arms moved. With a spring, she closed the distance and went for a shoulder strike to the orange Pearl's right side.   
>The orange Pearl was ready for the strike, twisting her body and blocking the blow with her blade in front of her chest before pushing against the strike strongly, sending the blue Pearl stumbling back a few steps. The orange Pearl tried to take advantage of the brief opening with an overhead strike, but failed, the blue Pearl's movements and reflexes faster, bringing her axe around quickly to block the blow, giving her own push as she broke the connection between their weapons.   
>The orange Pearl cursed to herself as she slid back a few inches more than she managed to get the blue Pearl to move. "She's got the advantage in strength, I need to think fast or I'm doomed." She stayed on the defensive as she thought, parrying another blow aimed at her side and springing back to avoid an overhead strike, growling in frustration as her counterattack to try and take advantage of her opponent's downward movement was met with a sharp spring up and a headbutt, the blue Pearl's head connecting with the orange Pearl's nose, now sitting crooked upon her face. She reached up instinctively with her free hand to try and fix it, and that proved to be her worst mistake. Smiling widely, the blue Pearl took advantage of the distraction and brought the flat end of her axe up swiftly into the orange Pearl's right hand, sending her sword up into the air before it came down in a clatter and disappeared. The blue Pearl followed through and moved into a chest strike, stopping a centimeter away from the orange Pearl's chest. "This round goes to me, don't you think?"  
>"Oh you are good, I can see why Lime favors you. How about another round?"  
>"Eager to lose again?"  
>"We need to practice more anyways, if losing is what it takes to learn. I don't plan on losing all of them."  
>At the same time across the room, the first fight between the pink Pearl and the brown Pearl took place. The pink Pearl held her staff tightly, eyeing her opponent carefully as the two circled around each other.   
>A slight smirk on the brown Pearl's face was all the warning the pink Pearl got before the brown Pearl flapped her wings, a strong gust generating from the motions. The pink Pearl struggled a moment to keep her footing, then her eyes widened as she saw her opponent spring forward with her spear tip pointed strait at her.   
>The pink Pearl sprang to the side, feeling a scrape against her form as the spear of her opponent nicked her side. The pink Pearl refocused and brought her staff down quickly, connecting with the brown Pearl's back with a thump, twisting the brown Pearl's left wing a bit under the force of the blow. The brown Pearl turned on her feet quickly, dropping her spear in favor of a brute force approach, lunging quickly and knocking the pink Pearl off of her feet.   
>The pink Pearl used her staff as a barrier between them as she felt her opponent bring her weight and strength down, her staff bending slightly under the pressure, her arms shaking as she strained to keep her opponent from coming down fully onto her chest.   
>Thinking quickly, the pink Pearl pushed against the brown Pearl's lower body with her feet and sent her opponent flying through the air, the momentum flipping her onto her back as she landed with a thud.  
>The pink Pearl stood quickly and rushed over to where her opponent had landed, determined to end the fight there. She wouldn't get the chance, the brown Pearl rolled over and sprung to her feet, reaching at her right shoulder with her left hand, a new spear materializing in her hand just in time to allow her to block the incoming pole jab, the force of the block sending the end of the pink staff down to click against the ground before springing off of the ground.   
>The pink Pearl decided to use the momentum of the rebound to lead herself into another strike, pushing the staff upward towards the brown Pearl's jaw, the brown Pearl barely getting her weapon between the tip of the staff and her chin in time to absorb some of the blow, her own brown spear knocking against her chin hard.   
>With her wings twisted and battered and the sore spots piling up on her body, the brown Pearl was getting frustrated. With a surge of strength, she decided to trust the tip of her weapon strait into the center of her opponent's pink staff. The pink Pearl smirked as she pushed her staff forward to block the blow, the tip sinking into the middle. The brown Pearl smiled triumphantly as she saw the weapon split apart, before her face fell with the realization the break was far too clean.  
>The pink Pearl stepped away, twirling half of her staff in each hand, wielding them like miniature batons. With a surge of speed, she rushed towards the brown Pearl.   
>As hard as the brown Pearl tried, she was unable to keep up with the onslaught of the two smaller weapons, only able to block half the blows with her weapon as the other half connected with her arms, her legs, her sides, and her head. Finally, the brown Pearl tossed her weapon aside and sank to her knees, covered in dark brown bruises. "Enough, please! You win!"  
>The pink Pearl smiled as she desummoned her weapon. "I told you strength wasn't everything. You can't always outbrute your opponent."  
>The brown Pearl rubbed her body and mumbled. "Geez, you're a nightmare in a fight. You'd give some of the other healed corruptions a real challenge. I learned a lot from you today."  
>The pink Pearl held her left hand out to the brown Pearl. "I'm glad to hear that. I learned a lot from you too, having to adjust to someone who's raw strength far outmatched my own presented a few problems. I'll be sure to use some of these strategies in another spar."  
>The brown Pearl took the pink Pearl's hand and stood to her feet shakily. "We have to do this again, I won't lose next time!"  
>"I look forward to it."  
>Back on the other side of the room, the orange and blue Pearls wrapped up another fight, the orange Pearl once more on the losing end. "Blast it all, how are you so good?!"   
>The blue Pearl let out a laugh. "Practice, lots of practice and a desire to surpass my teacher. Your problem is you idolize your ring master and don't see her as a rival. You're holding yourself back."  
>The orange Pearl's eyes widened. "That's! You, don't act like you know me!"   
>The blue Pearl shrugged her shoulders. "If you want to beat me and improve further, you'll have to accept it eventually."  
>A loud cough sounded through the room, causing the four Pearls to turn to the entrance. The purple Pearl stood there, a stern expression on her face. "Sorry girls, your time is up. The next group will arrive shortly, time to clear out."  
>The four Pearls let out sighs, the blue Pearl speaking up. "Well, that's it for today I guess. Should we do this again sometime?"  
>The brown and pink Pearls nodded, the brown Pearl speaking up. "Me and pinkie here already agreed we need to do this again. What about you and orange?"  
>The orange Pearl scoffed. "I must repay blue for the humiliation I suffered here today. I will improve and I will be victorious."  
>"You might if you remember what I said." the blue Pearl smirked as she looked over to the orange Pearl.  
>"Alright you four, it's seriously time for you to go!" The purple Pearl spoke up in a loud tone, causing all of them to jump.  
>"Right, come on you three, let's get out of here." the pink Pearl spoke up before she started walking towards where the purple guard Pearl was standing. The other three Pearls followed behind her, looking forward to putting what they practiced to good use, and looking forward to more practice sessions together.

**Author's Note:**

> The Ring Champions and rings mentioned in this story will feature in future chapters of the main series. I'm still working out details on the two champions that haven't featured in the main story. I'll also be doing side stories for each master.


End file.
